Nokia and NTT DoCoMo drive 5G development

Nokia and NTT DoCoMo have agreed to collaborate on the research and standardisation of 5G technology, building on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in January this year.

The two companies will work to develop a 5G proof of concept (PoC) in order to make future 5G networks fit for extreme demands on capacity and performance.

“We chose Nokia as our partner for the 5G research project based on its clear vision, as well as its extensive mobile broadband experience and technology leadership,” said Seizo Onoe, CTO at NTT DoCoMo.

Operators of 5G networks will need to offer capabilities such as guaranteed cell-edge rates in excess of 100Mbps, as well as significantly reduced latency, and Nokia expects to build on its existing technologies to enable the transition.

“Future wireless networks will interconnect not just humans but also machines and objects, creating a vibrant overlay of virtual and physical worlds with a huge variety of use cases,” said Hossein Moiin, EVP and CTO of networks at Nokia. “Together with the industry, we need to make sure that 5G technology offers the right tenets to serve these use cases flexibly and profitably.”

The experimental 5G PoC system is expected to be implemented using National Instruments’ baseband modules, commonly used for rapid prototyping of 5G interfaces.